A pervert caught pleasuring himself on a busy beach in summer has been branded a "dirty old man" by a judge.

Robert Steven Toller was seen loitering near the public showers on Gower's Langland Bay looking at young girls and masturbating in his shorts.

It's not the first time 62-year-old Toller has engaged in such activity – he has also been caught looking at a young Swansea Valley girl in the back of a car and touching himself and been caught naked on a Carmarthenshire beach performing a sex act on himself.

Swansea Crown Court heard that just after 3pm on Sunday, July 8, this year a mum saw Toller standing near the showers on Langland beach.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, said the woman could see he had his hand in his trousers and he was pleasuring himself.

Though the woman had her children with her they did not see what was going on.

The court heard the mum approached other beachgoers to raise the alarm and a number of people challenged Toller, who was by now watching two young girls aged around 11 to 13 while continuing to touch himself.

Mr Jones said Toller walked off in the direction of Rotherslade but was stopped by another man on the beach who detained him.

The court heard the beach was busy with families at the time.

Toller was subsequently picked out by a number of beachgoers during a police identity parade and gave a "no comment" interview to officers.

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Toller, of Heol Calfin, Ravenhill, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to outraging public decency when he appeared in the dock for sentencing on Friday.

The court heard he has a previous conviction for a similar offence from 2013 when he had pleasured himself while looking at a five-year-old girl while sat in a car in Clydach and a caution from 2000 when he had been naked and masturbating in the sand dunes at Pembrey.

James McKenna, for Toller, asked the court to follow the recommendations in the pre-sentence report that had been prepared.

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He told him: "I am going to use a phrase that you won't find in an legal text book – you are a dirty old man."

The judge said his alternatives were either to send the defendant to prison for what would be a relatively short period under the guidelines – meaning he would be released "the same sick individual as went in" – or to impose a community-based order which allowed probation to work with him.

Judge Thomas said the better course of action for the public would be the latter.

Toller was sentenced to 32 weeks in prison suspended for two years and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and the Horizon community sex offenders programme.

Toller will be a registered sex offender for the next 10 years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.